A Gringo in the Hood

2010-01-20T18:12:00.001-08:00

I just proved plancks constant with this kid I tutor in chemistry. I could
never do that when I was in high school.

2009-12-04T17:58:00.001-08:00

Blue Line SMS post:
Just got back from 2 day college trip in San Diego. 48 tenth and eleventh graders to 4 colleges. They were angels, although a suspicious odor permeated the halls around 2 a.m.

I got a great report from the sub with very nice things to say about the school, but a negative report via text message from another teacher who got the scoop from a student in my 4th period. Bottom line is, four 10th grade boys are going to be surprised they have 1 hour detentions on Monday.

2009-06-18T16:46:00.001-07:00

Fan-fucking-tastic talent show and awards ceremony. APB has got spirit afterall.

Obama Faces Gay Groups' Growing Anger - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

2009-06-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

I hope you've been following President Obama's recent actions on the equality. I know I have. To catch up, go here.

I've been stewing about this since the news broke last week, but something I read tonight just pushed me over the edge. Apparently equality is low priority for our president. According to his highest-ranking gay official, he plans to get around to matters of social justice sometime before this administration ends. We don't know when that is. After the midterms? When he is a lame duck in 3 or 7 years? The best we get is a vague timeline of "before the sun sets on this administration." Obama is apparently not willing to use any of his political capital to make sure that all Americans are treated equally under the law. Here's the straw that broke it for me:

Obama Faces Gay Groups' Growing Anger - Political Hotsheet - CBS News:

"It should be noted that there do appear to be efforts on behalf of gay Americans in the works: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday he is looking to pass hate crimes legislation before the August recess, and the extension of benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees is said to be on the way. But these are widely viewed as significant but relatively minor potential victories, and are not likely to quiet the growing anger among gay advocates if they do go through.

To do that, the president would likely need to take action on either DOMA or 'don't ask, don't tell.' And that probably won't happen anytime soon. On Sunday, John Berry, who is director of Office of Personnel Management and the highest-ranking gay official under Mr. Obama, told The Advocate that the administration plans to take action on both DOMA and 'don’t ask,' as well as an employment nondiscrimination bill, 'before the sun sets on this administration.'

Asked if that timeframe included a second term, Berry said, 'I say this in a broad sense -- our goal is to get this done on this administration's watch.'"

I'm just about finished with Obama. At this point, I'm supporting a primary challenger in 2012 and/or any sane Republican who has a shred of integrity and does what he or she says. Equality is clearly not a priority in the Obama administration. No action on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and a stab in the back with a rusty knife on the "Defense of Marriage Act." The winds of public opinion are even blowing on his back full force on DADT. This president has no courage and no convictions.

Americans shouldn't have to wait for Obama to become a lame duck before he tackles equality. What kind of president spits in the face of millions of Americans over and over before finally helping them up when its politically convenient? This coming from the president who said he could handle more than one thing at a time. Apparently he meant going out for burgers with Joe Biden while planning dates with Michelle in New York.

Our fierce advocate is a fraud.

We were better off under George W. Bush. At least he was open with his contempt for us.

2009-06-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Very dramatic day at school. Second instance of hate speech in a week. I'm sure they weren't the only two, but two extreme cases in the common area for students that somehow I was the only adult to witness. Never thought our wonderful 9th graders were capable of such hate. Lots of work to be done on that front.

On the other hand, the students published their first edition of their literary magazine. It was a work of pure genius that shows our students are capable of true greatness. Lots of blubbering students in awe of our students' writing.

Good thing the year is almost over. I can't handle too many more days of extreme highs and lows without a vacation.

2009-06-04T17:53:00.001-07:00

9th graders totally have the best school spirit. Now, how do we exploit this next year to make sure it starts carrying over into the other grades?

I'm going in the dunk tank tomorrow during the spring carnival. How should I feel if I raise the most money from students willing to pay to dunk me? Probably not good. At least there will be bacon wrapped hot dogs to ease the pain.

2009-05-27T15:32:00.001-07:00

Physics teacher put a screwdriver through his cheek over the weekend. He's alright, but damn that's terrifying. It was fun watching his class squirm while he told the story though. I bet they follow his safety directions when they start their robot project next week though.

2009-05-21T21:41:00.001-07:00

One of my students was arrested today at school. That was a new experience.

2009-05-18T18:04:00.001-07:00

Strangely combative meeting tonight about who will become the next assistant principal: teacher who helped found the school or new guy. In a surprise to me, all the students wanted the new guy. I suspect this debate will continue tomorrow.

2009-05-16T07:44:00.001-07:00

Awesome. Another distraction on my phone. I can text blog posts. Oh how far we've come.

I guess this means I'll be updating my blog more often.

March Madness

2009-04-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

March 2009 may go down as the best work-month of my life. Not only did I manage to work only one full week because of holidays, field trips, and personal vacations (those 10 sick/personal days a year aren't going to spend themselves), but in the short amount of time I did spend at school, it was continual stream of meetings, moments, and events that really drove home why working for a small charter school is infinitely better than working for LAUSD. Here are some of the highlights:

School Budget
I was "part" of the budget process at my previous school in LAUSD, and it was nothing like being part of the budget process at a charter school. In LAUSD, the system was top down. The principal and his secret cabal crafted a budget and showed it to the School Site Council, whose approval or rejection of budget was only marginally relevant, according to the principal.

At my charter school, it was the exact opposite. Before anyone even thought about drafting a budget, teachers, students, parents, school staff, and administrators had an equal opportunity to pitch new expenses for the upcoming school year at the School Advisory Council. This year, people wanted among other things: an extra security guard, a second assistant principal, a second counselor, a full time parent coordinator, an extra school bus, more internet bandwidth, and tutors.

Concurrently as this process was working, each academic department also met to make a wish list of materials, texts, and supplies for the coming school year. Departments turned these lists into the administration, and it was their duty to fund them or ask for revisions to department budgets. Imagine -- teachers picking their own textbooks and teaching materials. In LAUSD, that would be absurd. Those decisions are best left to people in office buildings downtown who only have to see children once or twice a semester.

With all the suggestions made for the next school year, each group of stakeholders met with their constituency, debated the value of each of the expenses, voted on their priorities, and then reconvened at the school council to make official recommendations for expenses, which the principal then took to craft the budget. Final approval by the school council of the budget was not an optional afterthought.

The entire process was transparent and engaging. Every person's voice was heard, whether or not they wanted it to be. No one can complain next year about how money is being spent, because everyone helped craft the school's financial plan.

During this process, I made a small suggestion about funding some buses from our school to our sister school with whom we share an athletics program to encourage students to attend school sporting events. I had an idea, I shared it, and it was funded. It's wonderful to think you can affect the process so easily.

College Field Trips
While the 10th graders buckled down for two days to take the CAHSEE (California exit exam), the 9th and 11th graders were exiled from the school to make sure the sophomores had a quiet testing environment. Good idea -- but what do you do with the 300 other kids? Take them to college of course. In the luck of the draw, I got to take 30 of the best damn 9th graders in the country on back-to-back trips to UC Irvine and UCLA. While it's always a little nerve wracking to take teenagers anywhere, I was especially nervous because was the first field trip these students were going on through our school.

Turns out, those two days of field trips would be the best I've ever had in my 4 years of college field trips. The kids were angels and everyone had a good time -- even the teachers. Surprisingly, UC Irvine was the hands down favorite because it was "peaceful."

While the students' parents deserve credit for teaching their children how to act responsibility in public, I like to think the culture of our school and classrooms had something to do with the overall tone of their behavior.

I wish I could say the field trips were equally magical for all the teachers, but some of the other trips were downright miserable. On a different UCLA trip, one 9th grader was caught shoplifting at the bookstore. I wish the store hadn't decided not to press charges on that one. And then on a 10th grade trip after the CAHSEE, the students were so distracted, disruptive, and disrespectful during a college presentation that the tour guide abruptly ended the tour early.

So I guess we haven't fully indoctrinated all of our students, but the ones I took on a field trip were fantastic.

California Distinguished School
Just before we adjourned for spring break last week, our principal received a call from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to let our school know we had been named a 2009 California Distinguished School.

Our school was among a record list of 28 charter middle and high schools in California that received this award.

Most interesting to me is the fact that of the 12 schools within LAUSD's boundaries that were named California distinguished schools, 10 of them are charter schools. Ten out of 12. That seems a clear indication to me which school model is working better.

It's also worth noting that to even be eligible for this recognition, a school must have made progress on closing the achievement gap. This means that your traditionally high performing schools from affluent areas aren't eligible. California Distinguished Schools by definition this year, are serving only the student populations with the greatest educational needs.

The average age of the staff my school is probably 28, including the administration. The principal at my old school probably has more experience in education than everyone at my new school combined, but our band of young revolutionaries runs a more effective and higher performing school than he does.

Six months, 20 days

2009-02-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

In other words, more than half a year ago.

Or, in terms of work, one session of Summer Bridge and one semester of school.

Also one each of Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, MLK Day, Valentines Day, and now Presidents' Day.

A President of the United States ago. An economic crisis ago.

No matter how you put it, it's been a long time since I've posted anything.

Where do I start? I'm still a gringo. I'm still in the hood.

The longest semester in the history of the world just ended at my school. Did I mention I'm at a charter school now? I must have.

This was also the hardest semester of work I've ever had. My last semester in the LAUSD, I had four preps: advanced ESL, 7th grade English, drama, and student leadership. I survived that easily, and thought things would be slowing down in the charter school world with only three preps: ESL, journalism, and Read 180.

Little did I know that my ESL class would be a double-block class, that was also double-rostered, meaning I had to teach two separate classes in the same room for two out of the six periods in the day, effectively making it four preps, all on its own. I had gone from four preps in LAUSD, to six in the charter world.

Also, little did I know, but my ESL class also wasn't really going to be an ESL class. Sure these students scored very low on the CELDT (California English Language Development Test), but not because they are new to the country or because they are learning English for the first time, but because the majority of them have special education needs.

My ESL class was effectively an ESL class combined with a special education class. And on top of that, it was a double block.

I'll say it again: this was the hardest semester of work I've ever had.

Oh of course I'm stronger for it, and things are going to be easier next semester when the ESL class is split in two and each class now only meets one out of the six periods. But damn. There were a few days I didn't think I'd make it.

That's it for now. The streak is broken, I've posted something. I'll try to do it again later.

Frank Rich

2008-07-27T20:58:00.001-07:00

Frank Rich has nailed it again. His column this week is an absolute must read about Sen. Obama's adventures abroad. I wish I could go into now, but seeing as how I'll be standing in front of a bunch of high school freshman tomorrow on both their and my first day of high school tomorrow, I can't invest the time necessary to do the topic justice. Suffice it to say CNN, MSNBC, and most of the other mainstream totally biffed their coverage of the presidential campaign. Rich of the New York Times said it perfect. Read it. One highlight:

What was most striking about the Obama speech in Berlin was not anything he said so much as the alternative reality it fostered: many American children have never before seen huge crowds turn out abroad to wave American flags instead of burn them.

My new iPhone

2008-07-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

"Why yes. This is my new iPhone."

My roommates are very lucky they are in Costa Rica for the next three weeks, because it's going to take at least that much time for me to get over the novelty of my new phone. I can't imagine how annoying it would be to be around me at home right now while I'm exploring all the iPhone's features and downloadable applications.

To any non iPhone-using person this will sound absurd, but I'm certain my new iPhone is going to change the way I live. Here's a quick rundown of how my new iPhone has changed my life for the better in the last 24 hours.

Maps, GPS, and traffic, oh my
I got word that my iPhone was at the AT&T store I ordered it from it last Sunday at about 3 p.m. yesterday, right when I was planning on driving to Irvine to see Ellen. I considered waiting till the next day (today) to go get it, but I quickly thought better. After picking it up, I was overdue to head down. Since I can't use the phone while driving, I opted for the much safer driving task of playing with the iPhone's maps function. On the maps bag, you can tap an icon in the corner and a blue dot will appear on the map indicating your precise location. It will move as you move. At the same time, you can look at an overlay of traffic speeds on the freeways and get turn by turn directions to any location you plug in.

I'm never going to get lost again. No matter where I am, my iPhone will find my location and tell him how to get to whatever I want to. At any time I can get a bird's eye view of the streets around me and get my bearings. Not only won't I get lost, but I'll also begin to learn the ins and outs of my city.

Pictures
The camera on this thing is better than the camera on my digital camera. The phone, email, and camera features on the iPhone are so well integrated that I found myself taking pictures and sending them off in multiple directions several times during the course of the evening. I'm going to be able to document events and happenings more consistently as well as share them in emails and on here (check out Ellen and Tari!)

Teaching
I know I should have tried harder, but I couldn't resist fiddling with my iPhone during class today (if I had been a student, I would have lost my new phone on its second day and would have earned a detention). On the plus side, I found a teachable moment. I play this game called "Zip Around" in my class as a "brain break." It involves students having flashcards and having to orally race around the room with assorted math drills. I time the students while they do this and they get very excited about getting a fast time and beating the other class. While I normally use an online stopwatch on the desktop computer in the classroom, today I used my iPhone, which allowed for a slight improvement. My phone has a stopwatch with the option of recording laps. Since we were studying decimals and adding fractions, I decided to record the students time in laps. In order to find out their overall time and to see if they beat the other class, they had to add the 4 laps which measured to the nearest tenth of a second. This activity also provided a perfect transition to their next assignment, a series of word problems that had to do with times from running the 100 meter dash. I'm not sure my class would have been so smooth and consistent in focus were not for my new iPhone.

Music
As I write this I am using Pandora, another application I downloaded today and one of two streaming music programs. I told the iPhone I like Lupe Fiasco, and so far its found half a dozen excellent songs, some of which I already know and love and some of which are new to me. My iPhone is exactly the radio station I've been looking for. As the program selects songs for me, it tells me why it did based on what I've told it about the other stuff its played. Right now, Pandora selected Nas's "Can't Forget About You" for me to listen to "because it features a knack for catchy hooks, clean lyrics, use of strings, thin orchestration, a dry recording sound, radio friendly stylings and many other similarities identified in the Music Genome Project." Shit!

Traditional radio, although with lots of choices, is ultimately designed for a mass audience and is not tailored to individual tastes. I realize I'm making bold statements about the importance of this iPhone function, but read up about the Music Genome Project that's behind Pandora and you'll start to see what I'm talking about.

I already told my sister this, but I think this is the best $200 I've ever spent (although after a last minute stop last night at the Apple store for screen covers and a case it's closer to $245). While I consider the above mentioned features noble pursuits, there are some other cool stuff I've found/added that don't serve a higher purpose, but they are cool: Facebook: Very easy to look at photos and profiles and to update your status. Very user-friendly. NYTimes: Extremely navigable home page with high quality photos. PhoneSaber: Turns your phone into a light saber! Well, it makes the sounds as you swing it around anyway. Super fun! Mahjong: I love mahjong.

Starbucks

2008-07-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

The list is out and luckily none of the Starbucks I frequent are on it. The LA Times has a nifty little map that will show you where all the southern California closings are. Looking at the map I'm sure you'll notice the same trend I did in terms of where these cafes are located. It's the same trend the Chicago Tribune identified when it looked at where the Chicago-area closings are happening. Starbucks is disappearing from minority and low-income communities. I'm sure stories just like this one in the Tribune are showing up in newspapers in every major newspaper.

These businesses are closing in the communities that need the jobs the most. Whereas the addition of a business like Wal-Mart to a community might add more jobs and cheap goods (from China), a Starbucks is an ethical company in terms of how it treats its employees. In an accompanying staff column, William Spolec's story shows just how important a Starbucks can be:

Spolec was 62—not an easy time of life to look for work—when he got laid off as a banking vice president of human resources in 2003. Unemployment was near a nine-year high.

He ran through his jobless benefits and was about to lose his family's health coverage when he began hunting what the unemployed call a "survival job."

At a grocery store chain where he applied as a cashier, he was told that benefits kicked in after employees worked 25 hours per week.

"Then they told me upfront, you're not going to be able to get the 25 hours because we can't afford to pay benefits [to new hires] and stay competitive with other food stores," he recalled. "Only people who were grandfathered got them."

By contrast, when he applied at Starbucks in downtown Chicago, the hiring manager reassured him, "We'll get you to your 20 hours [per week] so you can qualify." The chain provides benefits for employees who work a minimum 240 hours in a calendar quarter.

"It meant a lot to me," he said. "They provided me with the medical insurance that I needed desperately. They provided me with something to do, too, which helped. Even if it's just making lattes, it got me out of the house. They were very good to me, particularly with the benefits—medical, dental, 401(k), stock purchase. It was quite valuable, really."

He liked the culture too. "One shift we had five of us. There was a black, Asian, gay, another minority as well. One was old—that was me. I thought, 'Talk about a rainbow coalition,' this shift was it."

I'm sure as our country slides further into recession, the least well-off among us will be hit the hardest, whether its jobs, gas prices, home foreclosures, health insurance, or education.

As any good dyed-in-the-wool liberal would, I blame George W. Bush for all this. Eight years of incompetent and/or non-existent foreign and domestic policy has left our economy in tatters and we are just beginning to see the effects that are likely to get worse.

Imagine if September 12, 2001 we began working to become energy independent. Imagine if for the past five years we hadn't been throwing trillions of dollars away on an unnecessary and counter-productive war. Imagine if instead of giving the rich a tax cut, we invested in America's future by fully funding public education and making sure no American is without health insurance. Rather than Starbucks closing more than 600 stores and dozens of communities losing good jobs, I think we would be seeing quite the opposite.

Rumors about Obama

2008-06-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I only found this because I was perusing Tim's blog, and I couldn't resist posting it. Check it:

From: [Redacted]
To: [Redacted]
Subject: WHO IS BARACK OBAMA?

There are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.

Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.

Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.
A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.
Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.

Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.

Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.

Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.

Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.

Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.

Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.

A Tale of Two Schools

2008-06-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

In the process of applying to new schools, I interviewed at two different schools in the same network. I received offers from both, forcing me to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each school. One offered the possibility of forming a tennis team (they have courts) while another offered a journalism class. One is closer to my alma mater, while the other will have a brand new facility. At the time, the choice seemed difficult, but while reviewing my 2007-2008 calendar to switch important information to my 2008-2009 calendar, I came across a couple of notes I had scribbled during my observations.

April 24, School #1, during observation of English class writing in computer lab
Student: "Miss, would it be redundant if I wrote..."

Student: "Can I use Karl Marx as a source"
Me (aside to teacher): "Karl Marx? They know who Marx is?"
Teacher (to class): "What do you know about Karl Marx?"
Students: ... socialism... communism... there are no real communist countries

April 29, School #2, in main office, heard from the hallway
Student: "I gotta use the bathroom! I'm going to pee on myself. You're making me do the pee pee dance."

Rediscovering these notes from my school visits, I realize it was an easier choice than I thought.

Top 11 things I should have written about by now

2008-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

I have definitely fallen off the wagon when it comes to updating this blog. It's been months. I have had much to write about in that time, but no time to write about it. Even when I was sick for 2+ weeks, I didn't catch myself up. But that was mostly because I was in constant pain. I could tell myself that I'll write a proper individual post for all the things I've been meaning to write about, but I know I'd just be kidding myself. So the realistic solution is a short annotated list of all those topics. So here, in no real particular order, are the top 11 things I've been meaning to write about but haven't.

1. Applying to charter middle school
Some months ago I got a Teach for America email about opportunities at a charter school. I didn't think I was qualified for the job (5 years experience was suggested), but at the behest of Jenna, I applied anyway. Long story short, I applied, interviewed, did a sample lesson, and got a job offer. I was supremely impressed by the school culture and the way the students conducted themselves. I was close to accepting the offer, but then Lindsey suggested I check out the charter high schools as well, which leads me to:

2. Applying to charter high schools
My LAUSD teaching interview was very short, about 5 minutes. I got the job because my resume said USC, and the principal was an alumnus. The application process for the charter schools was the exact opposite. I applied; spoke to the principal and department chair; did a sample lesson in front of students, parents, teachers, and administrators; took an online test to gauge my ability to work with at-risk students, plan, and work with bureaucracy among other things; and interviewed with the principal, department chair, and an assistant principal on the same topics. It was the most thorough interview I've ever had, and was precisely what should be done at all schools before hiring teachers. I enjoyed every second of the application process.

3. Accepting high school Dot job offer
Naturally, the charters offered me a job. I accepted. Next year I will teach English (most likely remedial reading, ELD, and a journalism class) at a charter high school. The same time I am leaving LAUSD, so are two other TFA teachers at my original school site. To us and others, it feels like an LAUSD exodus. I loved my school, my students, and co-workers, but the district's problems were too great. There are many other stories to be told about informing my principal and certain co-workers, but those are not to be told today.

4. The story told by the president of the charter Parent's Union
Earlier this week, I attended some of a new teacher orientation at one of high schools. Among the speakers was the president of the Parent's Union, who happened to be the mother of a recent charter graduate. She told her son's story to illustrate how attending a good school with good teachers is a matter of life and death. I've retold her story several times already, including to some of my students, and if you want to hear it, you'll just have to ask me about it.

5. The UTLA walk-out
Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing massive cuts to public education in California next year. UTLA organized a one hour walk-out one morning and my school participated. I was suffering from severe Strep Throat at the time, but got my ass to school and walked around campus a few times with the vast majority of teachers at my school. The union action went very smoothly, but I'm not sure what effect it had on the discussion. I'm glad I had the opportunity to protest with my co-workers however.

6. Climbing Half Dome (and getting really sick after)
I went to Yosemite for the first time and did a multi-day hike to the top of Half Dome (google it). Nature seemed to have it in for me however, because I ended up with a debilitating cervical sprain in my neck (yes, your neck apparently has a cervix) and then somehow got a really bad case of Strep Throat (you should have seen how gross my tonsils were). I think nature and I are over.

7. Donna Foote's book Relentless Pursuit
I was in the teacher section of Borders one day and saw Relentless Pursuit on the bookshelf and immediately knew it was a TFA book (relentless pursuit is one of those TFA buzzwords), flipped through it and put it back half-disgusted. I went on to find out that a large portion of the book is about my new principal and many new co-workers and their experience at Locke High School right as they were deciding to leave to start a new charter school. I went right back to the store and got a copy. The book is great and shows how bad-ass my new colleagues are. It also does a really good job describing the TFA and LAUSD experiences, as well as a brief history of race and education in Los Angeles. Two thumbs up.

8. 8th Grade Graduation
At the same time I was finishing Relentless Pursuit, my 8th grade Leadership class and many of my other former students were graduating from 8th grade. My Leadership class and I went through a rough patch at the end of the year in which both parties were tired of seeing each other, but the end of the year went well. I announced their names at the ceremony and was very proud to be a part of the end of their middle school experience. It was a nice ceremony and I'm confident they do well in high school, in spite of the fact that most of them are going to the non-charter and non-magnet high school with a bad reputation. I have confidence they can help turn that school around.

9. My last day at Adams
I said goodbye to the smartest sixth graders I ever had. A student sang about me. One of the teachers/leaders I most respect at my school gave a very heart-felt goodbye/thank you. I boxed up my classroom and carried it to my car. I got a plaque after some tacos.

10. Tim Russert
Tim Russert was the best journalist on TV. My ears always perked up when he gave analysis on MSNBC and I always tired to get up early on Sundays to watch Meet the Press with a cup of coffee. I'm very disappointed he won't be there to help guide the country through the 2008 election.

11. Barack Obama becoming the Democratic Nominee
It's about time. I'm confident he'll win and totally redraw the political map in November. He will be one of those rare transformative leaders who fundamentally changes the direction of our country. But if he doesn't win and its more of the same, I might be totally done with politics. If this country doesn't make the obviously correct choice three times in a row, the disappointment might be too great.

What are your district's achievement goals?

2008-04-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Why is that in a "district and community information" scavenger hunt I have to complete to receive my permanent teaching credential, I am asked "What are your district's achievement gaols?" and then no hint of an answer is provided on the district's website? Do they even know the answer to that question themselves?

The emperor has no clothes.

Meaningful Feedback

2008-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

I love teaching English, but it's a serious pain in the ass grading papers. A proper English Language Arts education requires that the student read and write A LOT. I like carefully reading my students' work, but its so goddamn time consuming. I like to go through each essay with my rubric and then provide a short paragraph of comments in which I commend strengths and suggest improvements. I type these comments because its faster than writing on the actual essays.

When I was in high school, I loved getting papers back from teachers and reading the comments they wrote on my writing. Even if I got a bad grade (an A- or B+), it was all worth it if my teacher wrote a lot about what (s)he thought about my writing. I can tell my students feel the exact same way because when I pass back assignments with my comments, the vibe in the room is the exact same vibe I had when I eagerly read my teachers' comments.

It's totally worth it, to spend time giving meaningful feedback because I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of students who complete my writing assignments because they know I will read them and give them meaningful feedback. But on the other hand, I hate spending an entire night reading essays, especially when teachers' salaries are as they are. English teachers should work half days at least once a week to grade papers.

Film School

2008-03-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've officially started my own little middle school film school. The students in my leadership class are now reading the adapted theater script of Avi's Nothing But The Truth and will be spending the next month or so turning it into a feature film. I'm hoping by the end I can give all my students a DVD copy of the film to remember our class by.

The text is a pretty decent story that takes place in a high school and is ultimately concerened with issues of respect, personal freedom, and patriotism. Thematically, it relates very strongly to the issues I've tried to center our class around.

I'm excited about the project and think it will be very rewarding for all interested parties. Today, however it was uniquely rewarding for me in that I could not stop laughing about the amount of work I assigned them. Really, its a reasonable amount of work (select and answer five out of 15 possible discussion questions), but these kids are so (original adjective redacted) and pissed off when I give them work that I couldn't help but laugh while giving my explicit guidelines for how they are to complete the assignment. They didn't find it quite so funny.

The Solutions Candidate

2008-03-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

In a post titled "A progressive ascendancy" on the L.A. Times' Dust Up Blog, two contributors discuss the possibility of an extended period of Democratic dominance in Washington, D.C. In 2004 I certainly didn't expect that in 2008 I'd be optimistic about progressive politics in America. But after the 2006 midterm elections and the shattering of Karl Rove's cynical paradigm for winning election by dividing the country against itself and the ascendancy since 2004 of Barack Obama's politics of national unity and political compromise, I am much more optimistic about the possibility of solving America's problems. What Rick Perlstein said in the Dust Up that caught my attention though illustrates a great point about why Obama is more fit to lead the new progressive majority in America than Hillary Clinton:

Now a progressive congressional majority faces the challenge of keeping its promise to push a plainly popular progressive agenda. Here are some approval ratings for the Democratic majority versus the Republican minority's legislative positions (click here for sources): stem cell research, 64% to 31%; troop withdrawal from Iraq, 59% to 36%; Medicare drug-price negotiation, 79% to 17%; and renewable energy, 70% to 7%. None of these things have passed into law, of course, and that's largely because of a rather monstrous strategy on the part of the Republican minority: They've intentionally abused the minority's power to obstruct in order to get the media to label this a "do-nothing" Congress.

It's stunning: The most cloture votes -- filibusters, in other words -- in any previous modern Congress was 61. Each Congress, of course, lasts two years. But in just the first year of this Congress, Republicans had already filibustered 62 times -- yes, they're on track to double the obstructionism of any previous Congress, and so far the political press hasn't even noticed. "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's working for us," Sen. Trent Lott told Roll Call last year.

Hillary Clinton claims that she is the "solutions" candidate and Barack Obama is the "speeches" candidate. Clinton says she's ready to fight the Republicans, while Obama says he's ready to listen to the Republicans.

The reality is, you can fight the other side as much as you want, but you are still not going to have a supermajority in Congress that will be able to prevent cloture votes. Hillary Clinton might have all the solutions to our country's problems, but that doesn't mean she'll get any bills through a divided Congress, half of whose members despise her.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, will layout an agenda upon taking office that is just as progressive Clinton's, and he will have a much better chance of making those solutions a reality. Barack Obama has a history of listening to the other side, dating all the way back to his time as editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama does not demonize his political adversaries as monsters. He does not discount outright views that are different from his own.

If Barack Obama emerges from 2008 as the next president of the United States, America will be with him on the issues in huge numbers (stem cell research 64%, troop withdrawal 59%, Medicare 79%, energy 70%). Obama will be a consensus building president with no sworn enemies and it will be politically inviable for Congress to filibuster laws that seek to do the people's work. A President Hillary Clinton presents an entirely different political landscape in Washington, D.C., where half the nation will not seriously object to filibustering her agenda because they themselves don't like her.

It's time to turn the page on slash and burn partisanship. It's time for Change.

World Lit

2008-02-25T17:25:00.001-08:00

I totally stole a page out of my favorite high school English teacher's lesson plan book today, and my kids totally ate it up.

Mrs. Hartnett taught World Literature I and II, as well as Dramatic Lit. Shakespeare was a big part of all of those classes, and one of her favorite assignments was to have her students paraphrase large chunks of text, particularly soliloquies, from the old English to contemporary English. Since we are reading Cyrano in drama, I decided to have my students translate the large chunk of lines in the balcony scene.

I gave my drama class the second half of class to work on the project and to my surprise, they totally got into it. Going line by line really made the text comprehensible for them, and some students were even smiling and giggling about the romance of the words. Even students I didn't expect to even try had made excellent progress by the end of the period.

Props Hartnett. Next step: Cliff Notes quizzes. Well, maybe not

Classroom gifts

2008-02-24T22:06:00.000-08:00

A very special thank you to Rufus for picking up two new books for my classroom this weekend: Travels with Charley: In Search of America and The Moon Is Down, both by John Steinbeck.

These gifts are sincerely appreciated and will be properly introduced to my students tomorrow.

I spoke to Rufus at length this weekend about my feelings about books (I cued him into the "Read a Book" video) and how I feel reading is central to education. I'm pretty sure he didn't totally agree with me on every point, but he certainly took my feelings to heart and decided to contribute to my classroom library, and for that, I shall honor him with a mini-lesson in most all my classes tomorrow.

See, Rufus' contribution is telling. He didn't just donate any old book. He donated specific books; books that are part of a larger narrative that demonstrate an appreciation over time of learning and reading. These aren't the first Steinbeck novels Rufus has bequeathed to me. They are the second and third. Rufus gave me an old copy of In Dubious Battle years ago that I've since read and gone from to other Steinbeck works. Reading is something that's supposed to be shared between individuals. I'm excited to model for my students that literature is a social activity and its just as fulfilling, certainly if not more so, than video games and MySpace.

I'm also excited to share with my students a visual collection of books by a single author to prove writing isn't as ephemeral as it seems in middle school. Literature is not a fleeting story in a grade level reading anthology. It is The Moon is Down and The Grapes of Wrath. In Dubious Battle and East of Eden.

I'm excited about my mini-lessons tomorrow and I hope my students will have something to say about reading. Perhaps its too much to expect middle school students to value literature, but I'm willing to be that dorky teacher who tries to show them reading is cool.

Read a book

2008-02-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

Search "Read a book" on YouTube. Do it now. Or I guess just click that link.

The first 1:15 of the video is pretty hilarious, the rest of it sort of devolves into something slightly more racist. Yet the central thesis is befitting: everyone needs to read a (explective redacted because I know mom reads this) book.

I am well versed in the middle school literacy instruction prescribed by the Los Angeles Unified School District, and it's missing something very important: books. The 6th to 8th grade English curriculum in LAUSD does not include books. How the hell do you expect kids to develop literacy skills if you don't making reading literature at least a consideration?

In my three years of teaching, I've gone to countless professional development trainings and seminars. Not once as anyone suggested reading novels might improve reading skills. Any curriculum training I've ever been to focuses on following a script in which students practice reading skills in the context of short stories, that aren't even short stories in the O. Henry sense of the word. The school district is obsessed with test scores, particularly in English, but no one seems to have thought that if students read literature, overtime they will have better language skills.

That's not to say that all teachers aren't using books, because some are. The teachers who go from department meetings devoted to reviewing the scripted curriculum, are the same whose students I see the next day carrying copies of The Giver and The Outsiders.

The problem, however, is that this is the exception and not the rule. And in my opinion, it's the district's fault. Not only does it undermine the quality of the student's education when you tell teachers to employ useless reading material, it also debases the concept of professional development that the state, district, schools, and teachers all agree are central to student achievement. Teachers should collaborate and learn and grow as professionals just like lawyers, doctors, and scientists. But imagine being a doctor and the only conferences you attend are on the uses of tongue depressers.

Education has somehow been hijacked. I for one am going to do my part to bring books back into my students' lives. Students in every class I teach, no matter the subject or prescribed curriculum, are reading books. I'm not supplanting the curriculum lest I be reprimanded for using novels, but there is a required reading list:

6th grade English as a Second Language: just finished Taking Sides, by Gary Soto and Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is next
7th grade English: O. Henry's short stories
8th grade Student Leadership: The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers
7th and 8th grade Drama: Cyrano de Bergerac

I don't expect my administrators or literacy specialist to be thrilled about what I'm doing. In fact, I'd expect to have to justify some assignments and provide reassurances that I was following the curriculum, especially where my English classes are concerned.

How did it come to this? How did a novel in an English class become a subversive act?

What's been going on

2008-02-14T20:55:00.001-08:00

It's been too long since I've written about what's actually going on in my classroom. I find it interesting, not sure if anyone else does, but here's a rundown, period by period.

Homeroom
"The PXJTs are upon us!" Does that exclamation have no meaning for you? Watch Clone High, and then we'll talk. My students aren't taking the PXJTs, rather the CSTs, but the manic frenzy is the same. As such, we are doing lots of test prep and, inexplicably, handwriting drills on Fridays. Mondays and Tuesdays are dedicated to silent reading, which brings me to:

Student Leadership
I've decided to go out on Black History Month this year. Since we are supposed to be doing silent reading in homeroom, I've assigned my students to read The Glory Field, by Walter Dean Myers of Monster and Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary fame. I've never read the book before, so my students and are discovering it together. Well, more like I'm discovering it and 90% of them are pretending to read it. It begins in ~1790 on a slave ship off the coast of Sierra Leone and follows the descendents of an African slave in America up until 1994 in New York. Our reading has been derailed lately because of a school dance (which went flawlessly), but I'm hoping we can finish the book before the end of the month.

At the same time, we started watching Roots, which has a very similar character arc and structure, but the kids definitely were not feeling that activity, so that's on the far back burner.
I want to give my students a comprehensive view of the African American experience throughout history, but I'm a little too eager to get to the Civil Rights Movement. I'm going to be covering it at the end of the month in ESL, so I'll get to scratch that itch in the near future, but I've been hunting for good civil rights documentaries for a good while now. I was at Amoeba this weekend and was encouraged when I found the documentary DVD section, only to become enraged after searching through dozens of movies in bizarre categories without finding a single movie about the Civil Rights Movement. I began walking away defeated, but then the Black History Month display caught my eye and I found three solid docs. I may end up skipping ahead to the Civil Rights Movement, but odds are we'll struggle through The Glory Field and earn our movie bonanza the right way. If not, at least I have the scripted ESL curriculum to look forward to.

There's plenty I need to write about in my other classes, but Lost is starting, and I have priorities.

Four Cheers for the L.A. Times

2008-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

I drove to school today intending to get a lot done before homeroom. I was majorly detoured the moment I walked in the front door and grabbed a copy of the Los Angeles Times, however. On the front page was a very solid story about the ongoing payroll fiasco in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Times had done stories on this topic in the past, but none as scathing as this one. As you may or may not know, the district has incorrectly paid tens of thousands of its teachers with a new $95 million payroll system that failed before it even started. The Times did an excellent job retracing the chain of command and exposing the widespread incompetence downtown:

A review of documents and interviews with current and former officials about the yearlong crisis shed light on fundamental problems that plagued the district and prevented it from solving the fiasco faster. Dysfunctional management and internal power struggles allowed the project to go forward with no one fully in charge and hampered the district's ability to mount an effective response when serious problems arose.

The Times generally does a less than mediocre job of covering education issues in Los Angeles, and the presence of that story alone would have been enough for the next month, but then I opened the paper to the California section and found an even better jem about a successful new safety plan in place at Markham Middle School, a school where many of my TFA/LMU cohort friends teach/taught. This is an excellent "good news" story to counter the "bad news" district bureaucracy story that was on the front page. Read the story, and you'll see that the improvements to the school environment are the result of school independence, innovation, and the use of available money for "meat and potatoes" that makes an immediate difference in students' lives:

More than $300,000 in donations paid for 71 computers, library materials, uniforms, shoes and two bungalows for the first Boys & Girls Club on an L.A. Unified campus. It's one of several after-school programs among expanded offerings that have pushed daily participation from more than 100 students to close to 200.

Just think, one failed payroll technology upgrade could fund more than 300 similar programs, which in reality are very barebones and modest, throughout Los Angeles.

Imagine my surprise after finding two great stories in one newspaper when I turned to the opinions page and found that the paper had devoted its entire Editorial section (three full page columns!) to the challenges facing the school district: Reimagine LAUSD and A union-teacher gap.

Both editorials are great. Read them both. They are both dead-on and hint at what I'm now convinced are the future of the district and the union. Both institutions stand at a crossroads. Change. Innovate and meet the actual needs of the students of Los Angeles, or cling to the current course of action and become irrelevant. I can't help think of the Senator Obama's call to arms of hope and change while contemplating the struggles our schools face. Perhaps if the election doesn't work out, he'll flee Washington all together and come help us tackle our little challenge in Los Angeles (he does after all give us a shout out in "Yes We Can."

So kudos to the Los Angeles Times today. May its coverage of education have this intensity every week.

A President Like Her Father

2008-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

In a New York Times Op-Ed piece today titled "A President Like My Father," Caroline Kennedy endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. If you're not going to read the whole article, then at least check this out:

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

Those are the exact same things I want my president to do, and why I support Barack Obama.

I'm confident that no matter who wins -- Obama, Clinton, or Edwards -- they are going to have roughly the same people working for them in the White House. I'm also confident they will do an infinitely better job running the federal government than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the current administration or any of the Republicans running. But it's Obama who has set out to transform American politics and unite the country after 8+ years of division and partisan rancor.

It's all about Hogwarts

2008-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

My students call me a Harry Potter nerd. It's probably an accurate description, but they might be a little off. Although I've read all the Harry Potter books, while I was reading each one, I distinctly remembering thinking to myself that I would never really feel the urge to go back and re-read any of them. They are fast, fun reads with a strong sprinkling of morality, politics, and philosophy. It's easy to remember the broad strokes of the series, and until recently, I thought that was all that was really necessary.

I now consider myself the supreme king of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I have effectively read the book four times now: once for pleasure, twice (although concurrently) with two different middle school English classes, and a fourth time as I prepared my lessons for the novel unit. If it came to it, I could probably give a more in depth summary of the book than is on SparkNotes.

Well before I had finished Chapter 22 for the fourth time, I had changed my mind about the re-readability of the Harry Potter series. Rowling's world is incredibly detailed, and the discover and analysis of her web of characters and plot points can be very rewarding. I will definitely go back and see what I missed in the other books, especially six and seven.

I wish I could just spend the whole year in my English class teaching out of the Harry Potter series. A literature-based literacy curriculum makes a lot more sense to me than the skills and strategies-based scripted curriculum I am required to teach to my English learners. My students are currently both writing character analysis essays and creating dioramas of their favorite scenes from the book. Two days into both projects, my students' ability to recall, summarize, and analyze events and characters in this 400+ page is much better than when we read 8 page stories about Aimee Mullins. It's also much easier for me to get them to understand the utility of literacy skills, which are taught through both curricula.

My literacy education was definitely literature-based, and definitely a lot more fun than what I have to teach. Sixth graders are supposed to read novels and do fun projects with them. They are supposed to make dioramas. Why must the district mandate a spiritless education?

Well, at least I can take comfort knowing that by coincidence I happen to teach the one particular English level with enough wiggle room to include literature. And next semester, that will definitely again include Harry Potter and perhaps the Half-Blood Prince.

"Didn't bother me at all..."

2008-01-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

A shout out to the still blog-less Lindsey for sending this hilarious send-up of the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign to me. It cleverly edits in footage of Hillary and Obama over a hilarious-in-its-own-right scene from Alexander Payne's "Election." I don't know how long the link will work, so check it out while you still can.

Lindsey suggested I show the clip to my Leadership class, but alas I don't think they will get it. I'd really like to show them the whole movie, but that is certainly out of the question, what with the R rating and all. How convenient that all the movies I really want to show my students to really teach them about the world are too violent or explicit.

Back to the content of the video link, however, the similarities between Reese Witherspoon's character in Election and Hillary Clinton are quite uncanny. Clinton is such the pubescent crybaby. Check out the link and then go watch the whole "Election" movie.

Find someone more qualified

2007-12-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

Check out LA Weekly's main story this week on LAUSD's fearless leader, Superintendent David Brewer.

The last couple of paragraphs are a huge payoff for the seven page article. A 16-year-old 11th grader from Crenshaw High School nailed it: "I think he has an idea of what he wants to do, but he doesn’t know how to do it. He may be a strong leader figure, but he doesn’t know what to do."

The 694,288 students and 45,473 teachers in the district deserve a leader with a vision, any vision. Brewer clearly has none and has wasted a year "listening and learning" while student performance stagnates and teachers don't get paid. Dump Brewer and the board members who hired him.

Al Gore for President

2007-12-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason," and so far it has met expectations. All the reviews I read prior to reading the book mentioned his constant referencing of political philosophers as well as contemporary pop culture, and they weren't lying. As a little experiment, I made a list of all his references in the second chapter, "Blinding the Faithful" as I read it. Here's what I found:

Historical References
Galileo, Thomas Brown, the Enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson, John Donne, James Madison, John Adams, Issac Newton, Justice Robert Jackson, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 73, J. Edgar Hoover, Dr. King, John Locke, Richard Nixon, Stalin, A Man for All Seasons, Aristotle, Orwell

Contemporary Political References
Sen. John Boehner, General Shinseki, General Batiste, William Boykin, Rep. Robin Hayes, Limbaugh/Hannity/Drudge/Coutler, Tom Delay, Terri Schiavo, Bill Frist, Falwell/Dobson

Concepts Referenced
the divine right of kings, consent of the governed, rule of law, well-informed citizenry

The book is an easy read and very thoughtful. It should stand as an integral philosophical reference for whomever is the next president. If you are still trying to figure out who to support in the coming primary, read "The Assault on Reason" and read a newspaper. You'll figure it out.

World's Classiest Guy

2007-12-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

If Pete Carroll ran for president, I'd campaign for him in a second. He's classy, and he's a winner. My sister found this article and emailed it to me. It's long, but a it's a must-read.

And then there's this clip on CNN. Only a coach like Carroll would make sure that a super-fan like this had a role on the sidelines.

The Coliseum

2007-12-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

These days its hard to find much worthwhile reading in the Daily Trojan, but the editors nailed it on the head today.

(Photo by Beth)

Researching

2007-11-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

I teach a heavily scripted curriculum, which has many advantages (lots of content in diverse modalities, multiple assessments, systematic instruction, test taking skill development). But alas there is not much room for the type of the self-directed, investigative learning I did in middle school.

Fortunately, I have the opportunity to teach the English learners at my school at the end of their ESL career -- ESL 4. The final learning unit in the high point curriculum is a research paper. I don't remember what form these papers took in my first year teaching. My guess is, they were crap. In my second year teaching I essentially gave my students Wikipedia entries on about 8 different topics and told them to write papers. The papers, again, were crap. As a follow up, I assigned them all the same topic: Pearl Harbor. I showed them exerpts from the movie Pearl Harbor and gave them Wikipedia entries on Pearl Harbor. The papers were better.

This year I've gone all out. I assigned each student a different person, event, or court case or law in the Civil Rights Movement and actually took them to the library for 3 days to do actual research. I showed them how to use an encyclopedia. They had never done so before. The librarian showed them how to use the index in a non-fiction book to find information.

My students read books on and related to their tooks and took notes. It was beautiful. My student has no idea who Huey Newton is. But giving him that topic sets him on a mission. He learns not only more about Huey Newton than I already know, but he also learns more about the Civil Rights Movement than he would have learned otherwise within the scripted history OR English curriculum. The reason is because his learning is self-directed.

My students are learning about lynching, the Black Power Movement, the Kennedy Assassination, and "Father Knows Best," even though they aren't specific research assignments. I knew my students were smart, but I didn't expect them to dive so head first into exploring their topics. I'm embarassed to admit that I'm almost surprised my students are able to pick up a research book, study it, and find relevant information. Perhaps I've underestimated my students in the past, giving them Pearl Harbor movie clips when instead I should have taken them to the library.

And the best part is I can talk to two or three students at a time about concepts and social trends that are interesting to me. I think my favorite reasech topic is probably the Watts uprising of 1965. Today I talked to a borderline thug student (who rocks out on every grammar lesson I teach and provides insightful written responses on the tests he's present for, but totally bombs the tests in the weeks during which he's mostly suspended or truant) about the slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, the rough edges of the Civil Rights Movement, and Rodney King in the span of 5 minutes; and it was amazing. Although student was wide-eyed and not as participatory in the discusison as I would have like at the time, I now appreciate that their was some real teaching and learning going on.

In summation, I've found it to be extremely educational to assign my students topics on a given theme that are generally considered relevant rather than allowing 25 students to do projects on a various pop culture icons and atheletes. It's more fulfulling for me and infinitely more educational for them.

The Day After the Celebrity

2007-11-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

Numerous teachers and students approached me about the celebrity today. I found myself repeating the same charity org's tagline to audiences who are at once totally homogenous yet utterly unique.

Honestly, I still barely know who he is.

Thank god today was a minimum day and periods were half as long as they normally are. Better yet, my typical day was broken up by mandated parental interaction.

I've gone through the parent conferences dance almost half a dozen times now, (while to the veteran teacher that is a scratch in the dust, to the beginning teacher, such as myself, it is a lifetime) but today I saw something new. I approached parent conferences differently today. I spoke to parents differently.

And I felt like a better teacher today.

A lot happened today. A lot of education happened -- despite, in spite, or in addition to celebrity.

I can't quite put my finger on it.

Celebrity

2007-11-14T20:14:00.001-08:00

A celebrity was in my classroom today much to the delight of my female students. He was brought to campus as part a publicity stunt for a well meaning charity. Major print and broadcast news outlets were there to document the "news."

The experience left me feeling a bit jaded about how teachers get the materials they need to educate their students. Is a temporary celebrity really going to make anyone want to donate materials to a school? Should teachers have to beg for sets of Harry Potter? The machine in motion and the people who grease its gears have misplaced priorities.

I've made it

2007-11-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

It's funny. You heavily invest yourself emotionally in one student, that student lets you down, and then another student comes into focus from right in front of your face and validates all the anguish you seemingly wastefully expended on the other student.

I have beat myself up over "Julio" for months. He hit rock bottom, we communicated and he pledged to improve, but he hasn't found his spark yet. He doesn't value education and isn't willing to put in the work necessary to better himself. He's a great kid, but he's not a student.

"Jorge" has been on the same academic track as Julio for as long as I've known both of them, but Jorge hasn't been as big of a part of my reflections on teaching. I've held them to the same expectations. Jorge has distinguished him where Julio has disappointed, however. Jorge has been patiently listening. to everything I have said and taught during the past two years. He has followed every scrap of advice I offer.

I think I have emotionally invested less in Jorge until now because he is less boisterous than Julio. He registers less frequently in my memory. But he consistently performs at higher levels on all tasks, both academic and school service related. Neither was born smarter, but Jorge applies himself.

Both students wore USC sweatshirts on Thursday. I'm willing to bet money that both knew I would take serious note of their clothes during the day. The logo was a much more appropriate fit for Jorge. He looked like a USC student. It was almost as if Julio was taken the Trojan name in vain. Jorge values education and understands the relevance of a college degree. I see him at USC in 4 years. At this point, Julio doesn't belong there.

I didn't realize any of this until today, when I met Jorge's mother at their home 7 blocks north of the USC campus. Jorge has been my student for 2 years, but I've never met his parents. She immediately invited me to dinner next week, and I accepted. I had never been invited to a student's home before. When I was in Teach for America training, home visits were always pushed upon the new teachers as a critical experience. "Never reject hospitality," they said. Jorge's mother is making chicken taquitos for me on Monday. I can't wait.

Even when I was a senior at USC, I never would have guessed that I would be an educator in the University Park community welcomed in the home of a student. (I went to decidedly unwholesome parties three houses down from where Jorge lives while at USC)! Merely being invited is such a validating experience. It's surreal. My 5 minute conversation with Jorge's mom made it clear to me that I've had an impact on Jorge's life and education. My dinner on Monday with Jorge's family is the reason I joined Teach for America and became an educator. I feel like I've made it.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today is the one year anniversary of the first dance I ever organized at my school. We did a repeat of the same Halloween dance theme today. Many of the same students who worked on the dance last year were at the dance again this year, and they did a much better job this time around. I had spent a good deal of time the day after the dance last year lecturing the leadership students about responsibility because they had skipped out on some of their jobs, but this time around, the kids did an excellent job. Either the kids or I or both have gotten their/my/our act together.

I find it remarkable that my students were able to organize an event for three hundred kids largely on their own. I'm not going to be lecturing them tomrrow.

The Dream Act

2007-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't been paying close enough attention to the news lately. But I doubt I am alone in never having heard of "The Dream Act." The only reason I learned about it is from a link on James' blog. Check out the article, or read the highlights below:

Senate vote Wednesday in which Republicans, supported by a handful of red-state Democrats, narrowly scuttled the Dream Act, a bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for some young undocumented immigrants -- but only those who did everything this country once found worthy and admirable in pursuit of the American dream.

Under the proposal, men and women who fulfilled several conditions -- they had to be under 30, had to have been brought into the country illegally before they were 16, had to have been in the United States for at least five years and had to be graduates of U.S. high schools -- would have been given conditional legal status. If they went on to complete two years of college or two years of military service, they would have been eligible for permanent residency.

This sounds like a great proposal. Who could possibly object to allowing innocent children a pathway to citizenship? The young people who would have benefited from this proposal are many of my students.

Why should the country throw out graduates of its high schools who have lived here most of their lives, simply because their parents crossed the border with them when they were 5? First generation immigrants who graduate from high school possess character traits that are inherently American. Give them a chance to become citizens.

And why not make higher education a condition of permanent residency? What kind of message does it send to young students that a reward for academic achievement and a commitment to education is freedom and the protections of the U.S. Constitution.

"I do not believe we should reward illegal behavior," sniffed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who led the fight to kill the measure.

These children did not do anything illegal. They were children, obeying their parents. If you want to punish parents, that's a different debate. But the children this bill would affect are innocent people.

Check to see how your senator voted. The Democrats needed 8 more senators to vote to end debate on this bill in order to give it an up or down vote.

Letter of rec

2007-10-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

A student asked me to write her a letter of recommendation for a scholarship today. The due date on the application is tomorrow. Poor form.

Regardless, I agreed because I felt that her acceptance or rejection would be a reflection on my own worth as a human being, and to a lesser extent, as a teacher. I had never been asked to write a letter of recommendation.

It makes sense that she would ask me. I've known her longer than her other current teachers. And upon further reflection, she really is qualified. Given the opportunities at her school, she's done everything she could have. The text follows (names have been changed...). Any references to USC are included simply because USC is a co-sponsor of the scholarship (naturally USC would offer such a scholarship -- it's the best and most community-minded university in the nation).

Eligibility requirements: "...residents of the area bounded by Olympic, Alameda, Slauson, and Crenshaw. USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative Scholars may not participate in this scholarship program." (that's right... no double dipping!!)

To Whom It May Concern:

It is my pleasure to recommend "Karen" as a candidate for your scholarship.

Karen has been a student of mine at John Adams Middle School in Student Leadership, an elective course for seventh and eighth grade students, for almost two years. During this time, I have had the honor of getting to know Karen as a diligent student, a proud leader, and a respectful individual.

Last year as a seventh grader, Karen was one of only a handful of students who applied and was accepted to be part of Student Leadership and the Associated Student Body at “JAMS.” Leadership is an elective course and extracurricular activity that plans and executives activities intended to improve student life as well as school and community service projects. As an active member of this organization, Karen participated in programs such as organizing student dances, creating lunch time activities and games, and assisting at school-wide parent/teacher conferences by translating English and Spanish.

As a seventh grader, Karen was also elected by her peers to serve as secretary of the Associated Student Body. In this capacity, she acted as record keeper of Leadership meetings as well as a representative of the student body at the principal’s weekly staff meeting with other school administrators. In these meetings, she represented her peers well, articulating plans for student activities as well as soliciting feedback from past events. It is not easy for a middle school student to speak to a group of adults, but Karen handled her responsibilities with pride and composure.

Karen has also represented the student body in the School Site Council, an organization of parents, community members, teachers, and school administrator responsible for developing the school’s “Single Plan for Student Achievement.” Joanna was one of five student representatives to this important governing body. She actively contributed to the content of each meeting, while other student representatives struggled to maintain consistent attendance.
In her second year in Student Leadership, Karen has taken on new leadership roles within the classroom, leading committees, encouraging her peers, and completing assignments with critical thought and great care.

College is not a question of “if” for Karen. It is a question of “when” and “which.” While other students at Karen's school express doubt at whether they will graduate from high school, or speculate about how old they will be when they drop out, Karen operates with an entirely different mindset. Higher education is a certainty for her.

As a University of Southern California alumnus myself, I take every opportunity to encourage Karen to think of joining the Trojan Family after high school. But I know that no matter which college or university receives her admission acceptance, it will be lucky and better off to have her as a part of its community.

On various walking field trips to Exposition Park and USC, I have attempted to expose my students to the challenges, privileges, and excitement of college life. On each of these occasions, Karen has been the student with the most questions about college. She is eager to increase her own knowledge of the world in addition to giving back to her community.

For all these reasons, I think Karen would be a worthy recipient of your scholarship. Should you have any questions, I invite you to call me at the number above.

Steinbeck and English learners

2007-10-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

This week in my ESL 4 class we've been reading "The Dirty Thirties," a psuedo history textbook account of the Dust Bowl and the Dust Bowl migration to California. This is approximately the fourth time I've taught a week long series of lessons about this subject and I must say, considering the other topics, it is one of my favorites.

My first year teaching, I got in the habit of searching for short videos related to the topics I taught in English, social studies, and history through an online video database known as United Streaming Video. One of the videos I found was a half hour summary of The Grapes of Wrath. I showed the video, and not many kids seemed to understand why I was doing so.

Last year, my second year teaching, I cut the video, but gave my seventh graders a taste of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath by reading aloud portions of a chapter related to "tractoring out" (textbook term).

This time around today, I gave my students photocopies of chapter 12 and 21 before reading the chapters aloud. I didn't really monitor who was following along and who wasn't. While reading chapter 12, I believe few students were.

There were a few choice swear words that I neglected to blot out before making the photocopies and only a few students reacted when I skipped over those words. I could tell, the students that reacted when I did skip those words were following along. Good job!

Some of those students who were following along seemed to clue their classmates in that there was something interesting in what I handed out today, becuase the next time I skipped over a "son-of-a-bitch" a slightly larger number of students reacted when I omitted the next curse word.

By the end of the "lesson," I was very comfortable with the number of students who were turning the page in their photocopies when it was time. I think they were digging The Grapes of Wrath. Rush for Mr. Reed!

Off the top of my head, I came up with a way to hold the students accountable to the text. They would have to identify a Steinbeck quote that reminded them of the text we were reading for class. It was such a thrill for me to watch my students scour the Grapes of Wrath and find their favorite quotes. Some of them even choose my favorite parts! I cannot describe the thrill of watching my seventh graders scrutinize and underline The Grapes of Wrath.

As spontaneous as the lesson was, the "student learning" I expected from it was strangely measurable. And the results are in:

* 4 students identified important quotes in the text, but only seemed to do so because they liked the "bad words"

* 3 students totally biffed the assignment and couldn't explain why they selected the quotes that they had

* 1 student submitted a piece of paper without an answer

* 3 students submitted answers that didn't make sense, but who made the appropriate connections in side conferences while attempting to write their answers

* and 9 students nailed it, making excellent connections between the two texts, and demonstrated a close to grade level understanding of the text

Next semester, I'm going to remake the photocopies, but maybe have a more specific objective in mind while using them.

My failing school

2007-10-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

My workplace was in the New York Times this week. You can read the entire story, or grab the highlights here:

A. J. Duffy, president of United Teachers of Los Angeles, said the union supported test score reviews provided they did not affect teachers’ jobs. Mr. Duffy said the federal law glossed over the travails of teaching students living in poverty. “Everyone agrees that urban education needs a shot in the arm, but it is not as bleak as the naysayers would have it,” he said.

That is not a view shared by many parents. Martha Sanchez, whose three children attend public schools here, said that as students grew older, the schools seemed to give up.

Her eldest, Gonzalo, attends eighth grade at John Adams Middle School, where only 22 percent of students passed the state exams in English and math this year. It is not hard for Ms. Sanchez to see why.

When Gonzalo struggled over equations, she said, his teacher called him slow rather than going over the material again. Ms. Sanchez said that she had complained, but that the teacher had denied the comment. It was only through the private tutoring, available under No Child Left Behind that he managed to pass seventh grade math, she said.

The principal, Joseph P. Santana, said he did not recall Ms. Sanchez’s complaining, but could not rule it out. “There are 1,600 of them,” he said, referring to the students, “and only one of me.”

Still, Ms. Sanchez is not a big fan of the law. Just weeks into the school year, she said, teachers are focusing almost solely on material likely to appear on state exams. Forget about igniting a passion in children, she said.

“Maybe the system is not designed for people like us,” she said.

I come from a journalism background in college, and my first reaction after reading this article is that the portion of the article reflects truly poor reporting. Anyone at my school could read this article and almost instantly know which math teacher the article references (and since the article has been circulated by our union representative, most everyone has), yet the article makes no attempt to interview the teacher in question. In fact, there is zero teacher voice in this portion entirely.

The fact that there is no teacher voice and that the parent's perspective is accepted without any balance (administration doesn't count) is infuriating. The New York Times would have you believe that poor little Gonzalo is a victim of cruel and indifferent teachers at a miserable school in South Central, when the reality is there is a growing majority of teachers at Adams who make significant sacrifices in the name of student achievement and are fully committed to giving Gonzalo and all of our other students a high quality education. But you won't read that story here.

We are just another anonymous school in the hood used as anecdotal evidence to justify disregard for public education.

Adams is making significant measurable gains in student achievement year after year. But you won't read that story here.

I haven't closely read the entire article yet so I can't speak to its overall treatement of NCLB and its attitude toward education, but the portion that refers to my school at least is bullshit.

BAD REPORTING!

Anger abated

2007-10-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I need to reconsider my nutrition or something, because I'm running on empty at the end of nearly every school day. My inclined to think I just need more coffee, but I'm open to suggestions.

My parent-teacher conference today sans student went very well. I relied on a much more experienced colleague who also became a new good friend while working together at summer school (he also helped me out in my seizure incident). The mother I had to speak today is the mother of a student he dealt with extensively last year. He and I have discussed this student at length over some well earned beers, and he is definitely on the same page as I am. He was an excellent translator for me today, and I was able to make my points in the proper tone of mutual interest in the students success. I'm still not convinced she is totally on board in terms of how her parenting influences his education, but I was direct and specific in my observations while proactive in offering suggestions.

I walked out of the conference smiling. The mother and I both had to cross the lunch yard where most of the school were gathering and I could definitely sense the mother's anxiety as she was looking amongst the students for her son. She didn't find him and I escorted her to the front of the school and she had to wait until after school to debrief with her son. I think it is for the best that she reflect on our discussion before speaking to her son.

After the conference and a great homeroom in which 90% of the students were doing exactly what I wanted them to do, I was feeling pretty good. Immediately after homeroom I had a brief conference with the assistant principal responsible for reviewing my performance. I communicated confidence and competence in the meeting and at the end he had the nicest things to say about me. He praised me for my ideas and initiative and encouraged me to think outside the box in terms of things I want to accomplish with the ESL curriculum. I felt totally supported and empowered. I didn't think administrators were supposed to talk like that.

After that, I had a very solid first block of English, but by 5th period I was tired and uncoordinated. The day hinges on lunch. So again, I ask: nutrition advice?

Still angry

2007-10-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

I cancelled my Blockbuster subscription today because I no longer have time to watch movies. It's a symptom of having a dog and a new apartment I think. On my way to the Culver City Blockbuster to return a late movie (on Oct. 2 I could own it for only $14.99) I got to thinking again about that student that pissed me off so much today.

Children aren't supposed to argue with adults, especially adults who are not their parents. There should be zero tolerance of back talk from students. A student has no right to raise his or her voice to a member of a school staff. Students who do so should be expelled and sent to re-education camps on a farm in Iowa (you win James).

Growing up, I never was part of parent-teacher conferences. My parents met with my teachers without me being present. I was not part of that discussion. I was surprised when I became a teacher that students accompanied their parents to all their conferences at my school. I sort of got over that idea, but I got to thinking about it again tonight. Students should not be part of parent-teacher discussions. Conferences are an adult conversation, and the presence of children demean the tone of the conversation. Additionally, being allowed to be party to adult conversations gives children a likely false sense of maturity.

If a student is failing my class, I've already let that student know before conferences. I don't need to tell that student again. Parent conferences is a time to update parents about student progress. If I have things to tell a parent, I want to speak to them without the student present because my message is intended for an adult. It's then incumbent upon that adult to communicate with his or her child. Likewise, a teacher should not be present when a parent is discplining a child because that changes the dynamic of the parent/child communication. In such cases, the parent is upset because the teacher wants them to, not becuase the parent really cares about his/her academic progress.

Parents are the most important educators in a child's life and its up to them to effectively communicate expectations for behavior and performance in school to their children.

Bad parenting

2007-10-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Ms. V was out sick Thursday. She thought her class was in good hands given that the substitute was a former teacher at our school who had gotten a job at a another school. Ms. V was instead surprised to learn Friday that while she was out, a lap top and the student teacher's flash drive had been stolen. Ms. V brings the pain Friday and offers to let the students return the laptop before she calls the cops. The laptop is returned at Saturday school, although it was damaged because the student tried to remove a tracking chip. Ms. V gets the full story out of the class with the help of the principal and deans.

One side of the classroom apparently was passing around the laptop and kicking it on the floor. The guilty parties are going to have to pay for the damages, but the students get to stay at the school and no charges are going to be filed. The principal has made it very clear that one false step and the students are out of the school and/or not graduating.

I've got a student in my leadership class who routinely disrespects and argues with the faculty and staff of the school. I've talked to him and his parents, but nothing doing. This kid's story is well known throughout the school, and he's just flat out spoiled. He gets anything he wants and never faces any consequences at home and routinely weasels out of punishment at school. I called home today after he had a run in with an administrator at lunch who merely asked him to tuck in his shirt and mom was completely unhelpful. His dad, I've been told is the true disaplinarian, but mom says he is too busy with work to come to school. I'm meeting with mom in the morning, but I'm not expecting anything to come of it. She was so bold as to complain to me on the phone about having to come back up to school after she was up last week for the same problem. Maybe it's a sign that your kid needs to be disciplined at home if he keeps getting in trouble at school. If multiple adults tell you your child has behavior problems, maybe you should re-evaluate your parenting.

This isn't the only case of parents not punishing their children I've heard about at my school. My school offers parenting classes for adults, and I've always wondered what they could possibly be talking about. Now I understand.
I didn't want to remove this kid from my class. He has potential and talks a good game, but he never delivers or follows through. My patience might have run out with him. Ms. V certainly thinks he should be dropped. Have the wisdom to know the difference between the things you can change and the things you can't. I'm not sure I agree with the philosophy of teaching only the students who want to learn, but today, it's making sense.

I have a dog now!

2007-09-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

I am way over due in my postings. So much has happened. August, I believe, was my last posting. Although, it very well could have been July.

I have a new dog, a new home, new students, possibly a new viewpoint.

Where to begin? The students, perhaps.

I didn't like my students after the first two weeks or so. My lessons were totally crashing and burning. I couldn't account for my mental disconnet between second and third year teaching. A lack of motivation? End of the teaching honeymoon? The need for a new challenge?

... Never fear. This week, I love teaching more than ever. I spent more than three hours of my day teaching grammar. Grammar of all things! Holy crap it was rewarding. "Ramiro" was totally into it. I was teaching grammar in a totally math-like zen state, and Ramiro, a thugish seventh grader with startingly new piercings, was definitely digging it. When random students like Ramiro are into what I'm teaching out of the blue like that, I'm all the more motivated. The more systematic grammar instruction is, the better. Maybe it's just my own mathematical bias, but when the English language is translated into math formulas, it is much easier to navigate.

I wish I could spend all day every day teaching grammar. I could teach it well. My English learners would be better readers and speakers if we just practiced the basics systematically.

It's been so long since I've written that I haven't even mentioned my new address here.

I live in the Miracle Mile/Mid-Wilshire area now. I have a new representative in Congress. Tom LaBonge, I believe is his name. I remember a show on Comedy Central with puppets that made fun of the same character.

Moving is a big deal. Your home is your home, and when you change addresses, regardless of your comfort or relationship with your surroundings, whether it be interpersonal, geographic, or metaphysical, it will have an impact on your outlook on life. I have to say, on the whole, mine has been postive.

And I guess the last point of the evening - I have a dog now. My dog worships me. His name is Wrigley, and he is the coolest dog in the world. I'm not sure what happened to him in his previous life (he was adopted from a shelter), but he follows me everywhere. I feed, water, and walk him regularly, and that seems to be enough to have earned his affection.

Anyway. To my loyal readers (and I know there at least three or four), I apologize for neglecting my blog posting duties. I have a dog now, but I won't let that get in the way of my writing. So much is happening that I can't afford to not write about it. I'll do better from now on.

"Ha. That's what you said last time."

Epilepsy

2007-07-31T19:44:00.003-07:00

I always knew my students were destined but for great things, but this? So soon? I never expected such a quick stratospheric rise. One of my students may very well be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The early indicators are startling!

What, you might ask, does one of my students have in common with Chief Justice John Roberts?
No idea? Give up? They both suffered seizures on Monday! What a coincidence, I know.

I gotta say, I was pretty terrified when it happened in my classroom. I had never seen anything like that before. It was right at the beginning of period 1 too, right when I started talking. I hope it wasn't the sound of my voice that set him off.

The New York Times has an interesting article out today discussing the implications a diagnosis of epilepsy has on a person's life. 2.7 million people have epilepsy in America, according to the Times article. Should John Roberts be taking medication?

My first experience with the disease has left me shaken, and I haven't quite yet processed the whole experience. What a way to start a Monday.

Apple Store Brawl

2007-07-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't stand a chance against those fists of fury.

But seriously, the Apple Store and its wares are amazing.

Sharing books

2007-07-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

My good friend Rufus left me a book at my apartment last weekend, Driving Mr. Albert, about a late 20 or early 30-something guy and an 84-year-old pathologist driving together from Maine to reunite Einstein's brain, which the pathologist himself removed in a 1955 autopsy on Einstein, to his granddaughter in San Francisco.

Some highlights:

"And then we just started on our way. Yes, everything was already moving. All that would happen already had. We just gave ourselves up to it, and let ourselves slip in."

"Why is it that, while traveling at 80 miles per hour in a locomotive, on the face of an Earth moving at 72,000 miles per hour around the sun, it feels as if we're really crawling? Or not moving at all? Why is it that, even as we gain speed and feel most alive, we're actually hurtling toward zero."

Reading this book has provided an enjoyable opportunity to gain more insight into one of his interest and view of road trips and America. We have shared and discussed these interests, but reading a book at his suggestion has given me a better understanding of his point of view. I wish I shared more books with friends.

Similarly, while teaching summer school this month, I've had an opportunity to better get to know some of the more veteran teachers at my school, and surprisingly, conversation keeps flowing back to what we have read, are reading, or want to read. I'm surprised, although I wish I weren't, to learn that I work with such like-minded people. Sometimes its hard to believe that teachers are so passionate about learning and the human experience when they spend so much of their time complaining about x, y, and z at school. We should spend more of our "professional development" talking about books. Teachers would be a lot happier and I think that would trickle down to higher student achievement.

Quotes of the day

2007-07-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

"Some like Maureen understood that the foundation for the sinking levels of instruction for all students, for their own diminished rights, lay in the two-tiered educational system. As long as some students were deprived of a quality education, they all were."
- Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Martin Luther King Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Notes from summer school

2007-07-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

"Julio"

I stopped by my regular school Friday after work. A bunch of my Leadership students were there, and apparently most of them are in the same class together. I'm generally happy with the teacher they got for math, but I'm a little worried about their English class. Apparently, they are spending a good deal of time practicing their cursive writing. I've banned cursive writing in my classes, so I have few problems with this arrangement.

I also met up with Julio for about 40 minutes. He's behind in his reading I assigned him for the summer, but he had the book on him and he didn't even know I would be checking that day. Good work Julio. He was very upset with his English teacher (who normally teaches music during the school year) and threatened not to come back on Monday. At the end of our talk, he said he'd be back though, and would talk to the right person about switching classes.

Well, Julio gave me a call tonight, and he hasn't been to school in the past two days, but says he is going tomorrow. He also told me he read chapter 2 of his assigned reading, which we are going to discuss at school on Thursday or Friday. Julio may drop summer school, but he hasn't dropped the positive attitude I saw at the end of the year. I think his complaints about his summer school are legitimate. I think most students at my school are right to complain about certain aspects of their public education. It's not right that they are shut down on issues and shut out of many of the decisions that affect their lives. How can I empower them without making personal enemies of other teachers and the administration?

"Black lady"

In the summer school class I am teaching, we are reading "Any Small Goodness," a more than decent book about a kid growing up in Los Angeles who faces real life challenges. It's easy reading and sometimes very funny. The chapter we started reading today is about a woman from the neighborhood who just died who was a piano prodigy who taught barrio kids to play. To my surprise, when we came to a description of "Leona Scott" that referred to her as a "black lady," my students voiced personal concerns. They wanted to change the description to "African American." The word black to them, is a racist term.

First of all, I am very proud that my students had an opinion on a matter such as this and were confident enough to voice it. However, the idea that people should not be allowed to use the word black as a neutral description made me stumble a bit in my lesson plan. After a brief discussion about how terms like "white" and "black" can be used to hurt people while other times they are simply used to describe something without any negative connotation, I was feeling pretty good, but not great, about what how my students view racial identity. My first instinct was to tell my students, well the Associated Press Stylebook says writers should use the term "black" instead of "African American," but I wasn't sure that would really be entirely convincing.

I believe it reflects very poorly on our society if we censor words like "white," "black," "Mexican," "Chinese," or any other statement of fact about race from our cultural lexicon. To me, not being able to talk about or even acknowledge racial identity shows how far behind we are in creating a culture of respect for all races.

I hope today's discussion is not the end of our discussions about race for the summer.

The Los Angeles 10 Commandments

2007-07-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

When I was going through Teach for America training in Long Beach in the summer of 2005, this old school TFA alumni from some school in either South Central or East L.A. gave the best presentation of the summer one night at LMU. It was a series of lists. One of those lists follows:

The Los Angeles 10 Commandments

Never, ever take the 405
Always fly out of Burbank
Always bring a jacket or sweater
It really is dangerous to drive after the first raid
Keep a flashlight and a pair of shoes by your bed
No one polices the police
Surface streets over freeways unless you are in Hollywood
Only eat at "A" restaurants
Yes, that really is _______________________, but it really doesn't matter
This is an occupied territory

Spring cleaning, part 2

2007-07-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

After further exploration of the depths of my filing cabinet, I stumbled upon another stages of teaching article. I wasn't able to find the exact chart in that publication, but the one to the right is close enough.

Spring cleaning

2007-07-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

According to some random handout from LMU I found buried deep in a filing cabinent, there are 4 stages of teaching:

Fantasy
Survival
Mastery
Impact

(Reference: Ryan, Kevin. The Induction of New Teachers, Fastback 237. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delat Kappa, 1986)

This list struck me because it reminded me of a post I had started a while back but never finished. That listed including the following stages:

Novice
Survival
?

It's striking how much that list seems to mirror the one I found buried today. I think my definition of "survival" (which I never got around to finishing) was something other than what this author had intended, however:

I'm getting it done. I'm comfortable and happy in my choosen profession because I'm accomplishing my goal of educating students. I don't really have to spend much time planning for he day to day lessons. I have an idea of what I want to do over a given period of time, and I get it done. I can change things on the fly and make up a new unit in a planning period. Students are learning (according to the Teach for America definition of things).
The "surviving" period is all about creating systems that work so that I don't have to worry so much. Sadly, this period seems to be about creating a new comfort zone after surviving such a dramatic change in lifestyle. But, don't get me wrong, a comfort zone is not necessarily a bad thing. After enduring the novice period, I feel I've earned some time to relax a little bit and not stress out so much.

I guess my "novice" stage is really the "survival" stage as Ryan would define it. What's scary about the survival stage is that it seems to be all about comfort . I wasn't able to define that third stage, but I did have some thoughts on it:

But what I'm realizing now is that being comfortable might be the opposite thing I want. Challenges and conflict might be integral to being truly effective educator and to having a transformative effect on students' lives. I think the same could be said for any profession or life that seeks to improve the state of things. I feel like I'm entering a new, third phase, which could be much more exciting and rewarding.

Best first day back ever...

2007-07-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

After being on the road, navigating strange streets, and sleeping on friends' floors for a week, it's good to be back home. It's especially good to be back home when your home is LA and on your first day back you experience a whirlwind of activity that defines your home.

car wash
Chanos
la playa
5 o'clock microbrew at the beach
rock show on Sunset with an open bar
late night tacos deep in the hood

It doesn't get much better than that. It's good to be back.

Back from Seattle

2007-07-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

When is the best time to start a 18 hour road trip? Midnight sounds about right. Including gas stops, rest stops, and a nice little detour to Puyullap, Washington, round that number up to about 21 hours. A few middle fingers are bound to get thrown around in that time. We're all still friends though.
It's amazing to think there are millions of people existing outside of Southern California. The scenery in Oregon is generally better than that of Washington. Both beat out most of California, with the possible exception of the Shasta Lake area north of Redding, California.

We spent a about a week in Seattle. That stint included both the 4th of July and Jacqui's birthday. The 4th of July is perhaps my favorite holiday, and this one was pretty freaking sweet (yes, those are croquet mallets in our hands). From the picture to the left you can get an idea of how awesome Jacqui's digs in Seattle are. You can also get an idea of how awesome a location it was for fireworks. It seemed like there were little fire fights being wagged every 20 yards or so across Puget Sound as everyone was setting off their fireworks.

There're not many things much more 'merican than smores. Scott and Jordan did an awesome job just digging a hole in the ground and turning it into a BBQ. In addition to smores, the vegetarians dined on veggie dogs while the meat eaters had turkey bacon wrapped turkey dogs. Plus Lindsey and I brought a little bit of the southern border to the northern border with grilled quesadillas and James' pico de gallo. And in true cholo style, I introduced the Seattlites to Doritos with Tapatio. Delicious.

"Julio"

2007-06-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

I love a good game of "Catch Phrase." Something about the beeping buzzer, vocabulary associations, and chucking a plastic disc across the room makes it a very fun game for me. I'm beginning to rethink my decision to introduce my students to the game, however.

Today was a kick back day at school for Leadership. We got our organization business done and then had about 20 minutes for a game. I should never have let Julio and Katherine be on opposite teams. They were at each other's throats all last semester, but had chilled out a bit after getting kicked out of the class for a month. I had seen flickers of that hostility earlier in the day, so I should have put them on the same team. But I didn't, and the competitiveness of the game and the two students themselves boiled over, with devastating results. Katherine's team wins, and Julio doesn't take it well.

The bell rings and the students scramble to push their chairs in, pick up their stuff, and head out. Julio doesn't control his anger and bumps in to Katherine with too much force, knocking her down.

The students hurry out. They seem scared.

He's crying, but trying to straighten himself up. He's fidgetting with his uniform, making sure his appearance will past inspection at the dean's office, where I'm sure he knows he's going. He's got his backpack on, and is ready to go. Before I say anything, he says he wants out of Leadership. Why? I don't understand? I honestly don't. He must think for sure they're/we're/I'm kicking him out, and he wants to be beat them/us/me to the punch.

He doesn't give me a reason. He just does. I can hear her his self doubt about his ability to fulfill his desire to be a better person. I get the impression he doesn't think he's good enough for Leadership. I don't get it. I tell him our goal is to get him prepared in the next year to be able to go to high school and be successful enough so that he can go to whatever college he wants. If being out of Leadership is part of that equation, then fine, but I need to know what he's going to do instead.

He listens and finally offers a reason he wants out of Leadership. He wants out of the class because he doesn't want to let me down.

I tell him the only way he can let me down is if he quits. He doesn't want to make more mistakes and give me the impression that he failed. I tell him that I understand every decision he makes. I don't agree with them, but I understand his thought process and the internal and external forces that shape his decisions. I will still get mad at the dumb shit he does, but he can't do anything to disappoint me, except quit.

"You know how she is," Julio pleads, pointing out the biggest challenge he will face in refraining from making mistakes. He's said this to me in the past as well, but I never understood until today how damningly important it was for his own psychological and emotional well-being that I acknowledge that I do know "how she is."

Julio rips into Katherine for behaviors and traits that can all be attributed to the fact that she is basically just an adolescent girl with a lot to prove.

"I agree with everything you've said," I tell him, but offer reasons why we both have an opportunity and obligation to help her become the best person she can be too. Katherine is a good person, she just needs extra support too.

But Julio doesn't hear my recommendations on how we can all become better people. All he hears is that I acknowledged that I do know how manipulative and cruel Katherine can be. And that acknowledgement opens me up for attack.

He's yelling at me through his tears, asking me how I can let him get kicked out for verbally sparring with her last semester if I knew all along "how she is." How come I didn't stand up for him?

His reaction startles me, and really gets my attention. He's right. I should have come down harder on Katherine, defended Julio more, and not let the dean make the decision. I offer one of the most sincere apologies of my life for letting him down because I know my failure to stand up for a student has caused him unimaginable emotional damage.

It's all so logical. Children conceive of the codes for behavior in moral terms. If a child violates those expectations, the other children expect appropriate chastisement. But if that bad behavior is excused, rationalized, or too easily forgiven (of which I now know I am very guilty), that creates incredibly damaging cognitive dissonance within those other children. A witnessing child begins to question his or her own conception of right and wrong, or what is acceptable and unacceptable.

We've all thought, at some point, "What's going on? Am I the only one seeing what's going on? Am I crazy?" (i.e. Bush getting elected, starting a false war, and subsequently getting re-elected). As adults, it doesn't take us long to realize we are in fact quite sane, that other people see the problem, and there is a perfectly rationale reason for the surreality of events (i.e. there are a lot of ignorant assholes in the south and rural areas of the country).

But children do not possess the critical thinking skills and life experiences to understand injustices such as unpunished bad behavior. It's up to us to model those skills and use our own experiences to set an example.

2nd period, my planning period, is half over. The counselor called 15 minutes ago about the situation because Katherine went to see her. I need to go compare notes.

Before I take Julio to second period, he tells I'm the best teacher he's ever had and the day I have a kid of my own is going to be the proudest day of either its life (maybe it was of my life -- he stumbled over the words).

I can't believe the things I'm hearing. In high school, college, my first two years as a teacher, I never thought I'd have a student tell me my class or teaching has made a difference to them. I don't know how to respond.

I meet with Ms. F., his counselor. I tell her the situation is under control. I list the consequences for both students and demand anger management and counseling services for both students. I know I come across stern and serious in our meeting, but also very compassionate towards Julio, who I can tell Ms. F wants punished severely.

I can't explain to her the psychological damage I perceive having been done to Julio in the past in school and out. I know him better than her, I tell myself, and I know how to help him control his anger and apply himself. I believe him when he says he's going to be a good student next year.

But Ms. F's skepticism makes me wonder. Am I getting played? Ms. F, a more experienced educator than I, is right, he's a smooth talker. He knows people and he knows what to say in any given situation. Is he just telling me what he thinks will influence me to help him out?

But I don't believe what Ms. F says is true, as coldly rational as it is. I believe what Julio says. I trust his anger, and his grief. I trust him because he called me out on for not standing up for him last time. "How could you let that happen?" I'll never forget the accusatory heartbroken anger of his words.

Katherine and Julio both need a lot of emotional and psychological help. Fortunately or unfortunately, Katherine is off my caseload because she is being removed from Leadership tomorrow. Her P.E. teacher notified me today that another student had told him that she saw "Katherine" alter the teacher's online grade book so that she would receive an A on her report card instead of a B. That's a whole other shit storm to deal with.

The little things ("Marco," Part 3)

2007-06-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Marco is gonna graduate.

After class today, he waited in the main office for me for 20 minutes while I finished an overdue letter of recommendation for another student so that I could talk to his eighth grade counselor with him. I didn't understand why I needed to go with until we got there. Ms. D is standing right there, but is "not talking to anyone."

"I'm serious," she informs us.

The secretary helps us out and updates us on which of his grades have already been posted. So far, it's looking good. We are just waiting for history. I tell Marco to go home and pray, and then I go talk to the seventh grade counselor about plans for the next school year. 20 minutes later Ms. D comes in with the graduation list with good news that Marco will graduate.

I get home three hours later and on a whim decide to call Marco's mom to let them know. I ask to speak to Marco. His mom recognizes my voice when she answers the phone and quickly passes it to her son. I let him know the good news. I hear him tell his family. His voice is a mixture of relief, happiness, and pride. I know the feeling.

Mom talks to me again, but I don't really understand what she's saying. I get that the general message is thank you. Then I talk to big sis, she thanks me for helping Marco and also for the information I've gave him for her (I'm trying to connect her with people at el Centro Chicano at USC so that she can get advise for going to college even without her papers).

My phone call clearly meant something to everyone in that home. It took 5 minutes, but it means more to them than just a breath of relief. It's a sign to the family that they are not the only people who care about their student's success. We're all in this together. This is what communities do.

Retirement

2007-06-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

I went to a retirement party tonight. I didn't think much of the invitation when I received it, and in the days leading up to the party, I hadn't thought much of the man who was to be honored. My conscious perception of the old man prior to this evening was that he was a creepy womanizer. But as the night when on and I listened to the people who know him best talk about him I realized that despite his quirks, he was a truly dedicated advocate for our community during his 40 years at the school. And without him, our school would not the model of safety and academic improvement that it is today.

The evening was awkward at first. As a young teacher that really doesn't know shit about shit, I felt like an intruder on the night's festivities. All these people have such a history with one another, and I've barely begun to get involved in the school. But once the speeches began, I sensed I really wasn't that out of place. Underneath the requisite sarcasm and burns about his hair, age, and inability to use a computer (twice we heard a story about how he studied a computer for 30 minutes trying to find the "any key" the computer was telling him to hit), each speaker conveyed a deep respect and gratitude for his contributions to our common cause. It's not often you are in a group of teachers and you get the sense that their students are their top priority. When they were eulogizing the career of Mr. W, that's exactly what came across the strongest.

As the Title I coordinator, it was basically Mr. W's job to order supplies and hire teaching assistants. His legendary anal retentiveness was critical to his success in that job. Through his intelligence and hard work, he has brought on dozens of teaching assistants from our community, many of whom went to our school. More than just a handful have gone on to become teachers themselves and administrators at our school. Listening to those individuals express their gratitude for his 40-years of work was inspiring. The night's honoree is still kind of a creepy old man, but he's a man who's accomplished exactly what I hope to do as an educator. The man is an institution and has created institutional change.

The evening was also a lesson in the history of our school. Not too along, I learned, our school was referred to in the media as the "Snakepit," (I had heard this story one night before as well from my boss at Six Flags Grad Night). There was no discipline and violence was rampant. Students would graduate in June and January, and at the end of every semester, 20-25 teachers would leave the school. In his third year, he was already in the middle of the seniority list.

As an illustration of the violence he witnessed, Mr. W shared a story about his supervision duties on the street after school when he first started. He told us how in his first year at the school, a student stabbed a bigger student with a metal nail file he had taken from his mom's purse after the other kid had picked on him the day before. Mr. W was the first person to get to the victim and when he saw that blood was bubbling out of his chest, he knew the kid had hit a lung. The boy died on the way to the hospital.

I don't remember why Mr. W said he was telling us that story. When he was though, I felt like he was talking specifically to me. His attention was fixed in my direction, but I lost my glasses, so maybe he was looking at the person sitting in front of me or behind me. Regardless, Mr. W's example has given me a charge to get things done and to appreciate the responsibilities this profession carries. Even if he is a creepy old man.

Mr. W has been an integral part of the transformation of our school, not in a dramatic Hollywood style with leather jackets and baseball jackets, but with diligence, hard work, and an intelligence about how things get done. I'm a little worried about how things are going to work at our school next year. Mr. W is known as the Mayor, the Gatekeeper. Are the systems and institutions he's built going to last? Will the new Title I coordinator be able to fill the leadership void. I hope so.

Memo to my Leadership students

2007-06-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

The staff at this school knows who you are, and if you get in trouble, I'm going to find out. Somehow, I've become the on-site parent they can pull to the side in the breakroom or in the hall and complain about all the mistakes you make.

For future reference, if you get in trouble, and someone is listing your crimes to me in front of you, keep your mouth shut.

I will always listen to your point of view. But if a member of the staff is talking to me first, you gots to let him finish. No interruptions and no on the spot clarifications or questions. He gets the first word, but you’ll get the last.

You and I are part of the same group, and we have the same goals. If I am going to help you, you got to help yourself and let the system run its course. The truth will come out and justice will be served. Don’t give the other side something else to nail you for by being disrespectful or defiant.

Odds are, whoever is telling me what a supposedly horrible student you are will realize halfway through his venting (and that's exactly what it is), that it really isn't as big a deal as the volume of his voice might otherwise convey. So keep your mouth shut, and don't give him anymore ammunition.

Same rules apply if you are being scolded and I'm not there to hear it myself. Keep your mouth shut then, and we'll discuss it in a rational way later on.

Bill Clinton is gay?

2007-06-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hilarious

"Julio"

2007-06-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

Julio is a smart ass. He's got a big mouth and it gets him in trouble. He's incredibly creative though. He understands people and is a good judge of character. He can tell real people from phonies, and cares about his family and good friends. He's insightful, but lazy and undisciplined in his studies.

His Leadership class spent most of the day doing assemblies for the incoming 6th graders. Part of those assemblies was a uniform fashion show. Julio volunteered to be the bad example, wearing a forbidden (and untucked) red shirt and an oversized belt buckle. He was great in the fashion show, but then on the campus tours that followed, he got nabbed by a dean for violating uniform rules. Julio explained the reason, but gave some attitude. The dean jumped on it, and all hell broke loose.

I get word of the happenings all away across campus and run to the office to defend Julio. The dean starts explaining the situation and Julio does the worst possible thing he could. He interrupts the dean. He doesn't get much more out than "But..." before he's shut down with a grown man yelling "Shut. Up." in his face. Julio's down for the count. I'm told to talk to him. Julio runs out, punches a locker, and heads for the stairs. I catch up to him. Already, his losing the fight to swallow his tears, so I let him in my classroom, and tell him to relax until he feels like coming down. I run back downstairs to the auditorium where the rest of my students are slowly reconvening and continuing the assembly.

After nutrition, I find Julio has returned to the auditorium. I pull him aside for a talk. It doesn't take long for the tears to come back.

It is an unbelievably gut wrenching experience to have a student sobbingly tell you he's trying so hard to change his life but can't escape the bad things he did in the past, the bad impressions he's made on certain people. The boy is 12 years old and wracked by overwhelming feelings of hopelessness. How is that possible?

We have a real honest talk about school and everyone in it, about people in general, and an awful lot about Julio's strengths, his goals, and his family. We talk about the teachers who care. Julio is a tough kid, a psuedo gangbanger as a sixth grader. But he's not ashamed to express himself and cry in front of his teacher and his friends who simply won't stop walking by to check up on him.

Julio's past is not going to stop him from becoming the man he wants to be. It's going to be a lot harder for him to grow up and achieve than it was for me. But he has far more passion and drive than I did when I was his age. I promise Julio that he will be back in Leadership next year. His report card will probably be straight Fs at the end of this year (except for his B in Leadership), but he won't have anything lower than a C on his first report card as an 8th grader. I'm going to tutor Julio myself if I have to. This kid has got real academic potential, if he just knew how to be a student. I promise Julio he will graduate and walk the stage next year, and he tells me that if he does, it'll be for me.

I don't accept that. It'll be for himself.

I talked to the dean after school and tell him Julio feels really bad about what happened. It's hard to talk to people who deal with the same problems everyday and have to build up draconian systems to deal with them. I don't think the dean really listened to me. He's apparently not going to hold anything against Julio for the incident, but I don't think he comprehends how hurt he was.

Too often, adults don't listen to children. I'm as guilty as the next person. We need to think about that, and try a little harder to set a better example for compassion and understanding. The harm we do to our youth will come back to us in the end.
Julio was done wrong today. He might have done something wrong, but the wrong to him was worse. But as they said in the grade level assemblies yesterday, 10% of life is what happens to you, 90% is how you deal with it. Julio is already actively working on his 90%. He's reflecting and making himself better.

This teaching gig is really shaping a lot of different young lives. During the day, I usually recognize at least one interaction that is seriously influencing a child's perception of the world and of him or herself. And those are just the ones I notice.

"Marco," Part 2

2007-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Marco didn't bring back his assignment to school today. Uh oh. He did it, he promises, he just left it at home. Bullshit. Did he really not believe me I would follow through with the promised consequences.

"That's it Marco. I'm coming to your house tonight. Or is your mom going to be at Awards Night? Can I talk to her then."

Ms. T interrupts me, "He's going to Awards Night?! For what?!" Exit Ms. T.

"You know, I know why you got that invitation to Awards Night. I nominated you for two awards last week, before you started pissing me off. And now I'm embarrassed that a student of mine that is acting like this is supposed to get an award. Answer my question, is your mom going to be at Awards Night."

And then the tears. Normally I like it when students cry in front of me. When a student cries, it's a major shift in the teacher-student power dynamic. But when Marco started crying, I didn't enjoy it. His sadness was sincere. He believed that the reason his mom wasn't coming to Awards Night was because she doesn't care about him. His mom couldn't come because she had to work to support her family, and I'm not sure if Marco understood how deep his mom's pain would be if she knew how hurt Marco felt. I try to explain this to him, but I don't think he really comprehended my words, or if he did, he didn't agree with them. I'm not sure any adolescent truly appreciates how much his or her parents care about them.

I make a deal with Marco. He is going to sit outside the meeting I have to go to and re-type his assignment. If he gets it done, I'm still coming to his house after Awards Night, but instead of telling all the bad things about him, we'll have our own little awards ceremony with his family in his house.

I had never done a home visit before. It's always been highly recommended, but I never got around to it or really felt it was necessary. First we went to the wrong house. Marco uses another address so that he can go to our school instead of the worse one down the street. After making some phone calls, we find the right apartment building. It's just around the corner from the restaurant Ms. T and I had gone to before Awards Night. His little sister meets us at the door and bounds up the stairs, leading us to their apartment. Marco is at the door and welcomes us in, grinning an excited but nervous smile.

I explain Marco's academic awards to his mom and two sisters. Then he shows me his soccer trophies. We sit at the dinner table and talk awhile, and I'm able to slip in some suggestions for how Marco can make sure he is successful in high school. He just needs to mature a bit and stop making snorting sounds. Marco is a great kid with a great family with plenty of opportunity to be whatever he wants. He can set any goal he wants, and if he works at it, he will achieve it. I'm proud of Marco, and it's important that his family knows that. I think after Ms. T and my visit to Marco's home, Marco is a little more sure of his own potential.

As a white boy from a high socioeconomic background working in a low socioeconomic, Latino community, I am reminding daily of barriers that separate me from my new, adoptive community: I don't speak the language fluently and apparently I have no style (the school fashionistas say my shirts are too small they don't match my shoes enough). But I also get the growing sense of a physical barrier that separates us. I don't know the streets of my community, and I don't know its families. Fear of not being able to communicate is the only thing keeping that barrier in place though.

I will always remember Marco and his family. He reminds me that my work is relevant and can have a major impact on other people. Next year, I don't want to be afraid to reach out to parents and families with home visits. Marco's family taught me that I don't need to be. I am a gringo in the hood, not a gringo separate from the hood.

"Marco"

2007-06-04T16:49:00.001-07:00

My fifth and sixth period class is filled with douches. Today was really no different than any other day. We read two chapters of the Giver. One group of students drew amazing parallels between the community and the Garden of Eden. The discussions were good and behavior was alright.

Then all but seven of the students were called out for an assembly in which they were told that they had received invitations to 8th Grade Awards Night by accident; they would not be receiving any awards. I was left with the five students worthy of special recognition. Marco is one of them (he's getting the Top Honors award for my 8th grade ESL class). The kid is kinda weird though. One of his favorite things to do is making snorting noises while rubbing his noise. He also likes to lean up against me while asking questions, and then inch closer as I inch away.

With 15 minutes left in the period, after most of the students had left for the assembly, I had the students finish what they were doing and clean up. I gave them free time under the condition that they had to be in a chair. I also made the rule that for every second they were not seated, I would hold them for a minute after school. Of course Marco immediately scores 4 minutes after school. Then he starts snorting, so I tell him for every snort, its another minute. By the end of the school day, he's up to 12 minutes.

I haven't cleaned my table tops all year. Now's the perfect time. I march Marco done to Ms. T's room because I know she has 409. I figure since we are already down the hall, and walking to Ms. T's room burned off two minutes, might as well just have him clean her tables and be done with it. But no, Marco thinks its a joke, and is trying to act cute. Ms. T is not having it.

I've never been more intimidated by a teacher. Within 5 minutes of aggressive questioning, Ms. T has found out that Marco's was born in LA, but moved to Guatemala when he was 3. He moved back to LA 3 years ago, and is now finally learning English. Dad is gone, and mom is supporting her family as a seamstress, earning $200/week. Ms. T informs Marco that Mr. Reed earns more than that in a day (a lie) and that he doesn't know how good he's got it, getting a free education. Marco is silent (the first time in weeks) and cleans all her tables, and then mine. He doesn't know what to say.

At about 3:15, school has been out for more than half an hour, and Marco and I go back to Ms. T's room to return the cleaning supplies. As we walk, I ask him aobut his opinion about what Ms. T had to say. He doesn't have one. He seems mostly just terrified. Before we go in the room, I ask Marco about whether or not he is graduating. He doesn't know, even though the list was posted during lunch. We go in and Ms. T has written out notes for the stuff she is going to tell his mom when she calls later tonight. She asks him the same question I did. She makes a point about the importance of graduating from middle school and the relevance of education. Ms. T's dad has a 6th grade education, her mom a 5th. Ms. T points out all the diplomas and degrees she's earned, which are photocopied on the wall.

She asks him if he wants to drive a Honda when he grows up, or a Corvette. He doesn't know cars. Marco has a cell phone, but no minutes. He has a computer and a mySpace account, but no Internet access. I assign Marco a typed one-page letter to himself in 10 years. If he doesn't turn it in tomorrow, Ms. T and I are going to his house. Marco is a smart kid. He gets all his work done, according to his own rules. He clearly has difficult circumstances that makes it harder for him to get his stuff done, but he does anyway. I have a lot of respect from him. But still, he doesn't follow the letter of the law. It doesn't really bother me, but maybe it should. Ms. T takes no shit from her students. I take a lot. Ms. T found out more about Marco in 10 minutes, than I had figured out in a whole school year. Why hadn't I bothered? How is it relevant? Do I lower my expectations for work habits and cooperation? Or raise them? What happened today at school is going to stick with me. I haven't figured it out yet. More than ever though, I know I'm definitely just a gringo in the hood.

Smartest Man in the Room

2007-06-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

Remember the good ol' days when the Commander in Chief didn't need someone to tell him what to say? (really? 7+ minute reading My Pet Goat after the second tower was hit because no one told you what to do. really? that's the smartest thing to do?)

I was only in high school, but I have vague recollections of such an administration, supported by more recent experiences of watching the perhaps soon-to-be greatest ex-President (even better than Carter?!) philosophize at length and in detail about any issue thrown at him. We once had a smart President. He even went to Oxford!

Even better than Clinton, though, is his former #2. After making a delicious lunch of chicken asada quesadillas Saturday morning, I tuned into CSPAN for a distraction, and had the great fortune to find they were airing Al Gore's speech in front at the George Washington University this past week. Watching that man talk is amazing. I had read a report about his speech and particularly enjoyed the author's, Dana Milbank, comment that "Gore practically oozes gray matter." It wasn't until I saw his speech first hand though, that I began to fully appreciate the importance of pursuing a new Gore Administration. Al Gore is right about Iraq, and he is right about the climate crisis. America deserves an intelligent leader. Are we really that masochistic that we'd elect for the third time a lesser being to our highest office?

And for the record, when did we become a nation that settled for the fourth or fifth best? Are you ashamed to have a leader smarter than you? I know I've got ideas about Iraq, but I wouldn't really want the job of figuring out how to get out of that mess. I'd rather elect someone smarter than I am to do the job for me. I sure as hell wouldn't want to put someone dumber than I to do the job for me. That's just insane.

I'm from Illinois, so naturally I lean towards Obama. And then maybe Hillary since she grew up in Chicago too. But I do want the most capable person for the job. And that's Al Gore. Al Gore for President, damnit!

For another/similar perspective on this issue, checkout the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson's column here.

This here technology

2007-06-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

If you haven't found it already, go immediately to www.iGoogle.com. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen. It's like Google is reading my subconscious, figuring out all the slight things about the Internet and web browsers that bug me, and finding easy-to-use and fun solutions for them. I love it. Thank you James for turning me onto this thing.

I really hope when I try to log into iGoogle tomorrow from my work computer at school that I'm not going to be blocked, because this is the organizer I've been looking for all my life. I'm a disorganized person, but I don't have to be. This is what I need to stay on top of my shit. I'm going to be very annoyed if the LAUSD Thought Police have blocked it. With all the stuff I need to keep track of with student activities and school events, being able to update a calendar and to do list in a web based format that I can access from any computer will enable me to be much more effective. Who do I need to see about this?

And come to think of it, we should have a wireless network at school too damnit!